Advanced statistical analysis of twitching bacteria: a physicist's insight in the initial stage of biofilm
Final Report Abstract
The motility of cells in nature is of crucial importance to several processes of their life cycle. We have studied how trypanosome and N. gonorrhoeae bacteria move by applying, methods of statistical physics. Since both of these organisms are implicated in harmful diseases, understanding their motility in details may help to find new ways to control or prevent the spreading of these diseases. Another example of dangerous microbial communities are biofilms. Bacterial cells communicate by signaling chemicals to find each other and form clusters which further will develop into a robust and resilient biofilm. We have developed a model that describes the process of cluster formation by chemotactically interacting bacteria. It was designed to be the starting step in the simulations of the initial stages of biofilm formation. At later stages biofilm grow to macroscopic sizes and consist of bacteria and self-produced polymer that encases the bacteria in a slimy matrix. We have addressed the question of nutrients transport in such biofilms. We have discovered that biofilms develop a network of water filled channels with high permeability to liquid flows that allows for enhanced transport of nutrients. We have shown that the flows in those channels are driven by evaporation from the surface of the biofilm. These results are essential for complete understanding of the physiology of biofilms in general.
Publications
- Modeling a self-propelled autochemotactic walker. Phys. Rev. E 84, 041924 (2011)
J. Taktikos, V. Zaburdaev, and H. Stark
- Collective dynamics of model microorganisms with chemotactic signaling. Phys. Rev. E 85, 051901 (2012)
J. Taktikos, V. Zaburdaev, and H. Stark
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.85.051901)
